New Nissan uses Toyota technology

Nissan is to build a petrol-electric hybrid version of its American market Altima sedan, using the same technology that drives the Toyota Prius.

Nissan signed an agreement with Toyota in 2002 to use the Prius combination of conventional petrol engine and rechargeable battery power to produce 100,000 fuel cell-cars within a five-year period.

The hybrid version of the Altima, which shares its platform with the Nissan Maxima, could be available in some markets inside two years.

The Altima Hybrid will use a 130kW (175bhp) 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine combined with the battery power for extra boost under full acceleration, as well as emission-free urban motoring.

While the main hi-tech mechanicals have come from Toyota, Nissan has worked hard to adapt the hybrid layout to fit a larger vehicle and more powerful petrol motor.

Engineers claim to have taken the technology further than rivals, including the Lexus RX400h revealed at the Geneva motor show, and aim to give a 15 per cent reduction in zero to 100km/h time and 40 per cent improvement in economy.

The decision to buy Toyota's design rather than develop its own was taken by Nissan after an extensive feasibility study.

A Nissan spokesman said: "At the moment, the technology is still too expensive. Hybrid vehicles are currently in their second generation, but Nissan will wait until a third level is reached before we develop our own system, which we hope to have by 2010." Nissan is already testing a hybrid version of its X-Trail.

The Altima Hybrid will, like the conventional petrol Altima, will be built as a left-hand-drive for the United States and Europe. Right-hand-drive models are expected later.

When, Nissan isn't saying. At the moment the cost of converting the car to right-hand-drive is seen as a barrier.

Meantime, Korean carmaker Hyundai says it will have a hybrid Getz on sale in 2006 and a fuel-cell vehicle up and running by 2010. Both vehicles are crucial to Hyundai's plans to become one of the world's top-five carmakers by 2010. It is focusing its petrol-electric plans on the Getz and its fuel-cell development on the four-wheel-drive Tucson platform. Unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March, the front-drive Tucson FCV is Hyundai's second generation zero-emissions vehicle built in collaboration with American fuel cell giant United Technologies Corporation. It has several advantages over the previous Santa Fe FCV including cold-weather starting, a higher-output fuel cell stack, an extended driving range, and improved packaging, with the fuel stack moving from the undercarriage to the engine bay.

The petrol-electric drivetrain has, like the Prius and Civic, an automatic idle-stop feature. Performance is expected to be sufficient for such a light car with the combined efforts of a 1.4-litre petrol engine and a 12kW electric motor driving the front wheels through a ZF-sourced CVT transmission.

Both the Getz HEV and Tucson FCV will be tested in real-world conditions, with 50 hybrid prototypes being used by the South Korean government until 2006 and 30 Tucson FCVs based in California over the next few years.

The number of Tucson FCVs could increase now that Hyundai, along with several other carmakers, has secured a slice of a $US350 million US Government grant designed to get more FCV prototypes on to American streets.

HMC will spend $US2.3 billion on research this year on fuel cell and hybrid powertrains and a forthcoming common-rail turbo-diesel that meets Euro 4 regulations.

The conventional petrol-engined Tucson will be launched in New Zealand in August.